GiantMan & the Wasp
by MacROMega
Summary: For Jan's 50th "birthday" in 2013, Bringing Janet Van Dyne home and the aftermath. Cast: Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Sue Richards, Reed Richards, Mockingbird, Hawkeye, Dr. Strange, Ms. Marvel, Hazmat, Pietro, Tigra, Ultron, Circus of Crime, Skrulls, Thor.


It was just after midnight when the call came into the Avengers Academy. A group of wealthy people attending a major charity fundraiser had been taken hostage by a group of supervillains. Hank made the call that, since the case was delicate, he, Hawkeye and Tigra would go. They hopped in a Quinjet and took off for the scene.

Greer couldn't help but notice that Giant-Man seemed tense.

Clint walked up to his longtime ally. "There'll still be plenty of time, Hank," he said.

"I'm looking for a needle in a haystack," Hank said. "My lifetime may not be enough time, let alone today. But I've got to know the truth. She deserves that, and today is one of those days that it would be really nice to get her what she deserves."

Hawkeye patted Hank's shoulder and returned to his seat. "What's going on?" Greer asked.

"I'll tell ya later," Clint said.

They arrived at the event center. As team leader, Giant-Man approached the incident commander for the police. "What's the situation?" Hank asked.

"We've got about 20 people held hostage by this group calling themselves the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime," the commander said.

Hawkeye rolled his eyes.

Hank looked grim. "Today of all days," he said.

"What's he talking about?" a nearby officer said. "It's the middle of the night."

Hank scanned the building's exterior. "Clint, give me a lift through that window. Greer, you and Clint are my backup. Wait here."

Hank shrank to insect size and rode Hawkeye's arrow through the gap in a top floor window. He made his way downstairs and snagged most of the circus from behind before they knew what hit them. All that were left were the Ringmaster , Princess Python and the Crime Clown - and the princess' python was in the group he'd already gotten.

As the trio turned toward him, Hank grew to giant size and snagged both the Ringmaster's hypno-hat and the Clown's can gun. He crushed the hat and snapped the gun like a twig as he blew the Clown's unicycle out from under him. A finger tap knocked out the Clown and Princess.

Hank shrank to eight feet, grabbing the Ringmaster by a lapel. He punched the man in the face several times. "Today? " he shouted. "You had the nerve to do this today?" Then he threw the Ringmaster on the floor.

Hank turned to the ex-hostages. "Head out, folks and get the police in here. I need to get back to work, and these idiots can't hurt you any more."

Once back at the academy, Hank turned to Clint. "You know where I'll be," Hank said.

Once Hank was out of earshot, Greer said, "Clint what is going on? I've never seen Hank like that."

Hawkeye sighed. "Today would have been his and Jan's wedding anniversary … You know, if things were different."

"Oh," said Greer. "But why was he so hard on those super-creeps? They were pretty small potatoes."

"It's complicated," Clint said. "The world thought Hank was dead when he married Jan under his new Yellowjacket identity. The Ringmaster thought that would be an ideal time to hit the Avengers and crashed the wedding."

"And now they hit him on his anniversary again," Tigra said.

"It's more than that - but, like I said, it's complicated," Hawkeye said.

"But where's he going?" Tigra said.

Clint sighed, looking after where Hank had gone. "He's going to spend every moment he can today looking for her - for Jan."

"I thought he'd moved on," Tigra said.

Clint shrugged. "There's moving on and there's moving on. He's learning - maybe learned - to live without her again, but he's never stopped loving her. Besides, he still doesn't really know where she is, or if he can get her back. He needs to at least know."

"But, for all we know, there are infinite numbers of universes," Tigra said, "How will he find her, and how would he know it's really her and not some other universe's version of her?"

"We're into super-science mumbo jumbo there," Clint said. "According to Hank, Jan's death left some kind of unique energy signature or vibrations or something, and there's something that will show she belongs in this dimension the sensors can pick up."

"He's just gonna spend as much of the 24 hours as he can in there?" Greer asked.

Clint nodded sadly. "It's as close as he can come now to spending the day with her," he said.

Twenty-two hours crawled by for Hank. He went with no sleep; that used to come easily when he had a project he wanted or needed to do, but it wasn't as easy now. Hank was by no means old, nor even middle-aged, but he was starting to get beyond youth.

It was shortly before 11 p.m. when the signal came in. Hank was surprised - astonished - to receive a signal from another dimension. There was a message file, and some sort of additional data dump, but it needed a password Hank didn't have.

Then he opened the message. At the same time, his heart beat again for the first time in months and his blood ran cold.

Hank hit the speaker button. "All staff, report to the search room," Hank said. "Code Red! All staff report to the search room."

The team was there in minutes. "What's up?" Hawkeye said.

Hank hit a button as he said, "This."

On the room's biggest monitor screen, an image appeared. In the foreground was a frighteningly familiar figure. It was unmistakably Ultron - looking a bit worse for wear than when they last saw him, but it was clearly him just the same.

But none of the faculty looked long at Ultron. All of them knew the person in the background. Pietro was shocked at what he saw. Greer was torn between joy and terror. And Clint just couldn't believe his eyes.

"Oh, my God," said Clint. "That's Jan!"

"Yes," said Hank. "But you can see she's still glowing purple, which means she's still toxic. Let me start the message."

Hank hit another button, and the images began to move. Staticky sound came from the speakers.

"Hello, Father," Ultron said. "Whether you are the first to receive this message or not, I assume it will be relayed to you. As you can see, I have succeeded where you have failed. I have found and revived your beloved Janet. I will gladly restore her to earth - but only if you will come to me and acknowledge my superiority."

"My God, she's still growing," Greer said.

"What's that thing around her neck?" Clint said.

"This signal will follow a homing beacon to your dimension," Ultron continued. "You can use it to come here, and I can use it to send Janet home. I will await your answer - but don't wait too long. As you can see, I won't be able to keep her here with me forever. Soon she will outgrow this dimension and into another - and then, you may never find her again."

The image froze. "That's where the signal ends," Hank said. I've got the coordinates. There was a sort of data dump that came in with the signal, but it's got a password, and I can't open it."

Pietro was at the console before any of the others could blink. "Hank, did you see the coded information the data dump came in with?"

Hank nodded. "It says it's from Jocasta,"

"Makes sense," Greer said. "The last time we saw Ultron, he had one of Jocasta's avatars with him, and he was in Underspace, where he could have accessed others. They're probably what he made the collar out of, and the broadcasting equipment, along with bits of himself."

"How big is she?" asked Clint.

Hank sighed. "Hard to tell," he said. "She's growing more slowly than in the video of her … death, but it appears Ultron is a lot of miles in front of her. I'm guessing she's probably on the scale of mountains, at least."

"She didn't appear to be in pain any more," Tigra said.

"Maybe slowing her growth took that away," Clint said.

"That collar's probably what's slowing her growth, and may even be keeping her alive and/or from blowing up again," Hank said. "Look, I've got a plan, but I need you to be ready to take things over here."

"You're not going to go," Greer said."

"Tigra's right," said Clint. "He just wants you there to gloat. He'll send Jan through toxic either way, and then he'll wipe out humanity and Jan will die again."

"Hank," said Pietro. "This data has Jocasta's encryption code on it. I don't think Ultron sent it. This looks viral - as in sent from a virus Jocasta put in Ultron, not a virus he was trying to send to us."

"Hey, Hank, zoom in on Jan's face," Clint said. "Greer, check this out."

"What is it?" Tigra asked.

"Jan's just staring at the camera, or whatever it is - not vacantly, though. More like intensely."

"Yeah," said Greer. "Hey, what are these distortions on her forehead?"

"Distortions?" Hank said, bolting to the screen.

"Yeah, right below her hairline, in line with her eyes," Clint said.

"Her antennae!" Hank said. "Jocasta rebooted her antennae!"

"Huh?" said Greer.

Hank was hitting keys on a keyboard. "Jocasta knew her consciousness could be used to reboot Jan, and knew Ultron knew it," he said as he worked. "She must have known what he'd do to her, too. When he used her, destroyed her, she uploaded some instructions to Jan to find a signal to us for a password, and she knew the word Jan would want to use to talk to me. She also gave Ultron a virus so the data dump could be sent. I'm guessing it's what we need to know to get Jan home safely."

Hank looked at the results of his work. "I knew it!" he said. "She's signaling in Buzzword."

"Buzzword?" said Pietro.

"It's code she worked out right after she first became the Wasp, to communicate with our antennae in case radio communication failed," Hank said. "She's sending tha call signal - Morse code for B-U-Z-Z . I'm betting the password for the data is the reply, again in Morse code.

Hank bit the keys to send the Morse signal. On the screen appeared the letters L-O-V-E.

He looked at the others, smiling. "She was a flirt even then," he said.

"The file's opening," Pietro said.

"Right," Hank said. He glanced over it. "Well, this could get her home, but it doesn't look like Jocasta got all the bugs worked out. "

He turned around. "OK, team. I need one of you to contact Reed Richards. He's an expert in dimensional travel and can help with that stuff while I'm gone - and do it if I don't get back. Somebody else get ahold of Stephen Strange."

"Dr. Strange?" said Hawkeye. "Why?"

"Thor's portal to save Earth from the growth bomb in Jan was magical, and that seems to have stumped Jocasta a bit," Hank said. It may affect what we can do to get her home. Besides, Stephen is a medical doctor, too and we need one of those as well. His presence kills two birds with one stone."

Hank turned to Pietro. "In my closet is a box marked 'Last Day.' There's a Yellowjacket uniform in it. Bring it here, and make sure you get everything in the gloves."

Pietro nodded and was back with the uniform before it fully registered on anyone else that he was gone.

"Sorry to ask, but I need a quick change," Hank said. It was complete almost as soon as he finished the sentence.

"With luck, I'll take Ultron out," Hank said. "Without it, I'll at least buy Reed and Stephen some time. Either way, thanks, folks. It's been an honor, and one I hope to continue."

Clint looked at the clock. He grinned. "Hey, Hank," he said, "Happy anniversary."

Hank nodded. "I hope to relay the message. Send me now."

"Sending," said Clint.

"Godspeed, Hank," said Greer.

Hank felt the odd pulling and squeezing that accompanies dimensional travel for what, to him, was a few seconds. Then he was there, floating in a void, alive because of the equipment in the suit he wore, with Ultron yards away, hovering above a landscape he knew was, in fact, his ex-wife.

Hank instantly willed himself up to his maximum height.

"Preparing for a fight, Father?" asked Ultron, through Hank's headset. You will lose this time, you know."

"No, Ultron," Hank said. "I acknowledge that you've outdone me, and I know all of what that means. I just wanted Jan to be able to see me before … the end."

"I know you've missed her," Untron said. "Go to her. Let your last embrace be the death of you."

Hank, now big enough for Jan to see and recognize, flew over to her. Jan's eyes, now hundreds of feet across, widened. "Hank?" she said.

Hank nodded, then sent the signal B-U-Z-Z in Morse code through his headset.

Tears, each the size of a waterfall's load, flowed from Jan's eyes. L-O-V-E, she sent back.

Hank moved in.

"No, Hank!" Jan said. "I'm still toxic! I'll kill you!"

Hank held out his right gauntlet. Jan could just make out a control the likes of which she had seen only once before, on the day she died - a day that, for her, was still only hours ago. She looked quizzically at her ex-husband.

"Not like what he did," Hank said. "Quite the opposite, in fact."

Hank clicked a button, but not the one the Skrull "Yellowjacket" had hit.

Suddenly Jan stopped glowing purple and growing - and Hank started to. He screamed, the agony Jan was now spared by the collar flowing through him.

"What?" Ultron said. He had time for nothing more. Hank reached a rapidly growing arm to Ultron, swallowing his wayward creation in the purple haze of toxins and out of control energy. The machine was demolished with less than a pinch.

"Hank!" Jan said. "Are you all right?"

"Just buying you time," Hank said. "Skrull tech … had a failsafe … so if you …somehow fought off the bomb … he could temporarily … channel the energy … into himself … and fulfill his mission."

Jan looked at herself. "I've stopped growing," she said, "But I can't shrink."

"Bomb's still in you," Hank said. "Got to get it out. Working on way … Got Reed and Dr. Strange … helping at home."

"Hank, you're in agony!" Jan yelled. "Believe me, I know! Let me take back the energy. With the collar, it doesn't hurt any more."

"NO! yelled Hank, who was now nearly as big as Jan. "Every second I take this buys Reed and Stephen more time. I've got to get you home! We're … too close to that now."

"Hank," Jan said, "I love you."

Hank grinned down at Jan. "I love you, too," he said. "That's my limit. Got to send it back to you."

Jan nodded. "Do it," she said.

Hank did, immediately slipping down to his normal maximum size.

"How big are you?" Jan asked, sounding anxious. It was a tone Hank wasn't used to in her voice.

"My max," he answered.

"Oh, God, you look like a bug!" Jan said. "I'm so big - and getting bigger again."

"Jan, I hate to do this, but I've got to leave you here right now," Hank said. "But that's so we can get you home."

"I know," she said.

Hank thought for a moment. "Oh, by the way," he said, "Happy anniversary."

Jan looked panic-stricken. "What?" she said.

Hank was confused. "Some time has passed back home since you were last conscious," he said. "Today would have been our anniversary - you know, without the divorce and you dying, and all."

"Oh, God, Hank, you scared me," Jan said. "That Skrull bastard - I realized right before I died that an "anniversary gift' he gave me was the growth bomb he put in me."

"I - I'm sorry. I didn't know."

Jan smiled. "No way you could, lover. Now go. Get me home."

Hank readied to send himself back. "We'll get you home soon, Jan," he said.

"I'm holding you to that, big guy," she said.

"Soon!" Hank said as he hit the send signal.

"Soon!" he heard Jan answer as he felt the tugging and squeezing begin again.

In a few seconds, Hank was back in the academy's search room. He practically dived to the communications console. As the others asked a flurry of questions about him and Jan, his fingers flew around the keyboard.

With a final click, he said into a microphone, "Jan, can you hear me?"

"Hank! Yes, lover!" came a garbled but identifiable voice.

"Good!" Hank said. "Honey, we can only use this link for short bursts, and I need to get to work on getting you home, but there are others here who want to talk to you."

"Hank," said Jan, "Remember; soon."

Hank chuckled. "Definitely soon," he said. "I love you."

"Oh, I love you, too!"

He turned to the other faculty. "A warning light will give you a minute's notice. Don't go over. This is our only link to get her home. We burn it out, we've lost her again."

All three nodded. Pietro was already at the mic as Hank left. "Hello, Janet," he said.

"Pietro!" Jan said. "It's so good to hear another familiar voice!"

"Jan! It's really you!" said Tigra.

"Greer! How are you, girlfriend?"

"Furry as usual. Jan, there's so much to tell you when you get back."

Clint walked up "Hey, Janny," he said.

"Clint!" Jan said, obvious joy in her voice. "Oh, God, it's good to hear you! How are you?"

"Good," said Clint. "You OK?"

"As well as can be expected," Jan said.

"Janny, Hank just missed you," Clint said. "The ship full of freed prisoners landed just after you … well, died."

"Oh, God! Poor Hank,"

"There were a lot of others there, too Jan," Clint said. "One of them was Bobbi."

"Bobbi? Your Bobbi?"

"It was the Skrull double who died," Clint said. "Bobbi's alivc."

"Oh, Clint, I'm so glad for you.," Jan said.

"Yeah, me, too," Clint said. "Now I'm glad for you and Hank, too."

A red light began flashing on the console. "We've gotta go so we don't burn out the link, Jan," said Greer. "We'll get you home as quickly as we can."

"I'm looking forward to it," Jan said. "See you soon."

Meanwhile, Hank entered the lab to find Mr. Fantastic and Dr. Strange already there. "Reed, how'd you get here so fast?"

Reed pointed a thumb to Strange. "Stephen gave me a lift. Hank, this data is fascinating … and troubling."

"Tell me about it," Hank said to Reed. He looked to Strange. "Thanks, Stephen," he said.

"Anytime," said Stephen.

Over the next 12 hours, Hank made short contacts with Jan every three hours to give her updates on progress.

On the first of those calls, Jan confirmed what Hank had suspected: Her consciousness went straight from when Thor tossed her exploding body into the dimensional portal to when she woke up wearing Ultron's collar. She had no knowledge of how Ultron did it, other than that he used the Jocasta avatar he had with him, and possibly Jocasta herself - and she only knew that much because Jocasta, even in death, had managed to implant some knowledge into her mind to aid her in her own rescue.

Jan said, "Hank, I'm so big, a planet I'm near is smaller than my boob."

Planetary boobs, Hank thought, having to fight off arousal to focus on the moment at hand.

"I don't think I have any gravity, though," Jan said. "Nothing's moving toward me."

"Your molecules are too diffuse," Hank said. "You're almost ghostlike."

"There's a happy thought," Jan replied.

"Sorry," Hank said, yawning.

"Hank, when did you sleep last?"

I'll sleep when we've got you home. "I've got to go, honey. We'll get you home soon."

"Soon," she said.

Six hours later, Jan said, "Hank I'm a little bit bigger than this galaxy nearby. It's so beautiful - and so fragile. If it weren't for the price to do so, I'd wish you could see it."

Hank's face went grim. They were running out of time. "Honey, next call I'll give you instructions. We'll get you home yet today."

"That IS soon," Jan said, delight in her voice.

"Jan, I'm not going to kid you," Hank said. "We're having to do this too fast. We'll get you back, I'm sure of that. But it's going to be rough. I'm not sure … I'm not sure you'll be just like you were … or able to function completely normally. I mean, you won't be handicapped or anything, but your size -"

"Is THAT all?" Jan said. "Hank, you've been trapped as a giant and I've been trapped at bug-size. If I'm stuck at an odd size, or have something weird happening with my size control, I'll deal with it. At least I'll be alive, and back on Earth."

"We'll do it, Honey," he said. "Next message will be homecoming plans."

"I can't wait," she said.

Hank went down the hall to Reed and Stephen. "It's crunch time," he said. "She's gone galactic."

Reed took a deep breath. "Then we're running out of time. We're not going to be able to perfect resizing her."

"I know," said Hank. "The Skrulls really screwed things up with that purple energy-toxins mix. We can delete it, but we can't get a proper fix on her to get her home at the right size because of it. Have we been able to narrow the range any?

"I'm afraid not," said Reed. She could still come through as everything from submicroscopic to mutligalactic."

"Stephen, you're sure the deletion process will work safely?"

"As much as I can be," Strange said.

"She'll be able to shrink and return to her base height, but that base height will be unstable until she's through," Reed said. "And her shrinking range will be limited."

"I know," said Hank. "Give me an alternative,"

"I may have one," said Stephen. "But I'm not sure you'll like it."

Hank gestured to Strange. "You have the floor."

This time Strange rook a deep breath. "I can get Janet back by reopening Thor's original portal - the one he created with his Uru hammer to save Earth from Janet. That will bring her home, but it would lock her size where it was just before she went through the portal."

"But she was skyscraper-sized at the time," said Reed.

Stephen shrugged. "Better than submicroscopic or multigalactic," he said.

"Reed, I know the relative scale of things," Hank said. "With what Jan will have left, she'll be able to function with normal humans when we get her back this way, and, with luck, she'll even be able to reach a human size."

Reed nodded. With Hank's experience at size-changing, he knew what he was talking about. "So, we'll dimensionally shunt all the Skrull elements and any suspect Pym particles, which will limit Jan's powers, then Stephen will reopen Thor's portal to bring her home. Will we need to be in New York to do that?"

"No, said Stephen, "But Janet will be exhausted and huge when we get her back. She may sleep for a day or even two. With her on that scale, we should avoid a populated area."

"We can take Quinjet to a place in the desert," Hank said. "There's an old lab site of mine from when I was first working with growth serums there. We can bring Jan back there, and do the work inside once she shrinks. The shunting can be done from here, then we can do the rest there."

"I'll take the point here," Reed said. "Hank, you should be there when she gets in."

Hank smiled an exhausted smile. "Wouldn't miss it," he said.

As soon as he could, Hank called Jan. "Honey?"

"Hank, I don't want to rush you, but I don't think we have much time," Jan said. "Some of the smaller galaxies are starting to turn into single pinpoints of light."

"The trip is minutes away," Hank said. "The go signal is, 'Soon is now,'"

Jan laughed. "I love it," she said.

"If you're ready, the reply is the same."

"Got it."

"See you soon, Honey."

"Yeah, soon," said Jan.

For Jan, it was the silence, the waiting, that was the hard part. She had always been a woman of action, working to accomplish a goal, even if sometimes that goal was just ot have a good time. As a super heroine, she was a leader, a strategist. Even in the early days, when she was considered one of the lowest powered superheroes, she acted. She was competent in the lab, having been lab assistant to both her father and Hank; even there, she took part, rather than stay on the sidelines.

Now, this founding Avenger, this team leader, was reduced to playing the damsel in distress - although maybe that should be enlarged to playing the damsel in distress, she thought.

And that was the thing. All she could do, except observe, was to think. In the last batch of hours since her revival, Jan had thought about how she died, and her life with Hank and without him and with the Skrull, and a series of realizations hit her. There were realizations about herself, and her feelings for Hank, and about the Skrull's secret invasion. It was the realizations about herself and Hank that were the most profound, but the key one about the Skrull plot was something she knew she would have to address, if she could figure out how.

But none of that would matter if Hank and the others didn't get her out soon. Jan realized that, to her, the smallest galaxies - the ones that had become single points of light to her colossal eyes just minutes ago - were now becoming so tiny she couldn't see them any more. She was nearing the point when she would outgrow this universe, and nearing it fast. Once out, the collar either would be useless or, worse, would collapse, leaving her once more a growth bomb and in agony.

Then Jan remembered the impossible things she'd seen Hank do - and he'd said he was being helped by Reed Richards and Stephen Strange. She smiled. They'd get her home somehow, she knew.

At least Jocasta had given her a means of acting on her own behalf, Jan realized, and it was great to finally get to use Buzzword in the field. It wasn't much, Jan realized, but she had been able to do something on her own behalf.

The rest would come when she got home.

Hank was surprised when he got in the Quinjet. In it was not only Stephen, but Hawkeye, Mockingbird and the Invisible Woman.

"Sue? Bobbi? What are you doing here?" Hank asked.

"We're going along," said Sue.

"Yeah," said Bobbi. "Jan's going to need to decompress. Even though it's radically different, Jan's going to been through a trauma here, one that's as much the fault of the Skrull's secret invasion as ours was. In a sense, she's that invasion's last hostage."

"And she'll need women, especially women who've been through it," Sue said. "Besides, there aren't very many members of the superhero wives club, even if two of the three I can think of are technically ex-wives. We've got to stick together."

"That's true. You're the only one of us who isn't an ex-wife," said Bobbi. "Sue, you're weird."

By this time, Hank was buckled in and had launched the Quinjet. "Why are you here, Clint? Won't the academy need you?"

"Not as much as you and Jan," Hawkeye saisd. "Greer and Pietro can handle things for a few hours, anyway."

Hank glanced back at Dr. Strange. "Stephen, have you briefed these three at all?"

Strange shook his head.

"Well, you three need to know something. This process isn't perfect, but we're running out of time, so we've got to get Jan back now - I'm calculating within the next half-hour at most. But we're going to need a large landing zone. The only way we can get Jan back is to bring her through the path she left - at the size she left."

Of the three, Hawkeye was the only one who had been there when Thor had transported Jan. "Holy crap!" he said. "That big?"

"Yeah," said Hank, "and there may be problems with shrinking for her for at least a while."

"I don't get it," said Bobbi.

"It was hard to tell just how big Jan was when she went through because of the stuff the Skrull growth bomb made her body emit," Clint said. She might only have been hundreds of feet tall - or she might have been pushing 2,000."

Clint had never seen Bobbi's eyes so big. Sue had gone slack-jawed as well as wide-eyed.

Hank was starting to bank in. "There's the landing zone." He clicked a control. "Reed, can you read me?""Loud and clear," came Reed's reply.

Hank looked at Stephen, who nodded.

Hank hit the comlink button. "Jan, we're about ready here."

"Do it, Lover," Jan said.

Hank actually blushed at how that sounded. "Jan, this is gonna hurt."

"Bring it!" Jan said.

"Reed! Begin purging!"

"Purging," Reed said.

Jan screamed, then said, "You … weren't … kidding."

"Purging complete in five - four - three - two - one - zero!" said Reed.

Stephen knew his cue. He had the portal open precisely at zero, and pulled Jan back through with eldritch energies. She hovered in the air for a moment, then collapsed gently, like a marionette being lowered to the stage.

As she went down, Jan said groggily, "Air! I'm breathing air! Feels … good." Then she fell asleep.

Hawkeye, Sue and Mockingbird were staring up at Jan'e enormous form. "Holy crap," Clint said.

"She's … huge! Friggin' huge!" Bobbi said.

Sue, knowing Hank's capabilities, turned to him. "How big is she?"

"About 500 feet," Hank said. "That's good."

"That's GOOD?" Clint said.

"At this size, she'll be able to shrink into the range of human heights - albeit just barely," Hank said. Much bigger and she couldn't have done that."

Stephen had been hovering above Jan. He landed by Hank. "I detect nothing foreign with her," he said. "Even though Ultron was artificial, if he were present here, I would perceive him. She's clean."

"The Skrull particles, toxins and energies are all gone, and there aren't any nanites," said Reed through the comlink. "I think it worked, Hank."

"Looks that way," Hank said.

"You look exhausted," Sue said to Hank.

"Haven't slept in about three days," Hank said. "Now I can afford to - and I know where I'm going to sleep. If you folks will excuse me," he looked to Stephen. "I won't bother her, will I?"

Stephen smiled. "She might stir a bit, but that won't be all bad. I suspect she's been waiting for this, too."

Hank nodded and grew to his maximum size. He was still dwarfed by Jan. He crawled into her arms.

Jan opened one eye and smiled sleepily. "Mmmmm, 'Hank the Teddy Bear.' My favorite cuddle game," she said.

"Welcome back, Honey," Hank said.

"I've missed this," Jan said as she drifted back to sleep.

"Me, too," said Hank as he did the same.

Hawkeye shook his head and smiled. "Holy crap," he said again.

Jan was lying on her left side in a fetal position. The group was positioned with a great view of her backside. She was fully clothed in her last Wasp uniform, but the skintight uniform and the sheer scale of her derriere - ascending 100 feet in the air as she lay on her side - left little to the imagination.

Sue started walking around toward Jan's face, a walk that would now take several minutes due to Jan's size. As she did, Clint beckoned to Dr. Strange.

"Doc, are you sure she's really OK?" Clint asked. "I mean, I had a short stretch as Goliath using Hank's serum myself. The size limits aren't due to the serum. There's a limit to how big a person can get and still function using Pym Particles, and Jan's way above that."

"She's fine," Stephen said. "Jan's condition is unique. The Skrulls poisoned her size-changing ability, and Reed and Henry had to limit it as a result to make her safe for a return to Earth.

"But Jan's condition was also affected by how Thor saved Earth, and how we got her back," Strange continued. "Think of it like a reset button on a computer. Jan's base size was reset when she came through the two portals. The old Norse magics have made it so that, to her, her current height of just over 500 feet feels to her as if she were her old unaltered height."

"So she feels like she's 5-foot-4 right now?" Clint said.

Strange nodded. "And shrinking to as close to human size as she can get will feel to her as if she's an inch tall."

Clint shook his head as he looked at Jan's backside. And I once made love to her, he thought. "Holy crap," he said again.

Bobbi started the way the Invisible Woman had gone. "I'm gonna go check on Sue," she said.

Bobbi sprinted around to Sue in about a minute. Mockingbird found Sue staring up at Jan and Hank's sleeping faces, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Look at them, Bobbi," Sue said without shifting her gaze. "They both look so peaceful, so blissful. I've never seen either of them look so happy, so … content, and I've known them a long time."

Sue sobbed violently. Bobbi put her arm around her.

"Sue, maybe this wasn't the best idea for you to come here," Bobbi said. "I mean, that whole business with you and Hank on the Skrull ship -"

Sue shook her head. "No," she said. "Hank and Jan were two of our first superhero friends, and they're both going to be going through more adjustment after trauma. They need both of us here to help them through."

"But if any of them figure out -" Bobbi said.

"They won't," Sue said. "Not Reed, not Jan and not Hank. None of them will know."

Bobbi patted Sue's shoulders. "Well, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

Sue patted Bobbi's hand. "Thanks," she said. Then she started wiping her cheeks. "Reed will be here any minute," she said. "I don't want him to see I've been crying."

"He'll just think they're tears of joy for Hank and Jan," Mockingbird said.

Sue sniffled. "Doesn't matter," she said. "I don't want him to see any sign of what I'm really feeling - especially him."

It was about six hours later when Hank woke up. It was moonlight on a beautiful clear night. Hank gazed up at his ex-wife. She was still dozing peacefully.

Trying not to disturb her, Hank shrank and crawled out of Jan's arms. He could see her massive chest moving evenly as she breathed. Her beauty in the moonlight overwhelmed him, and his eyes teared up.

"Hey, boss man," came a familiar voice.

"Hi, Clint," Hank said.

"Glad you got some sleep," Hawkeye said. "You needed it - especially that particular sleep."

Hank laughed and nodded. "So, what's the status of things?" he asked.

"Well, Reed picked up Bobbi, Sue and Doc and went pack to the academy to get things ready," Clint said. "Apparently, the kids are all worked up about this. They've figured out that something's up with you, and they've got a betting pool as to what it is."

Hank raised an eyebrow.

Clint smiled. "Greer tells me Hazmat's gonna win it. Her bet is we've got Jan back."

Hank shook his head. "I don't approve of gambling at the academy," he said, "but I guess this is a special case."

"So," Clint said, "How're we gonna get her in a Quinjet?"

Giant-Man patted Clint's shoulder. "I used to have to make occasional repairs to her wings after combat. We found it was easier to do when she was asleep - and this is how we did it."

Giant-Man grew back to his maximum size and walked around to Jan's face. "Jan, Honey," he said gently, "I need to work on your wings."

"Mmm," Jan mumbled. "Past due. Been a while."

"Honey, I need you to shrink so I can work on your wings."

"'Kay," Jan said, still sleeping. "How small?"

"Down to wasp size," Hank said.

"Kay," the sleeping colossus said. "Going down." Jan's size plummeted down to a couple of feet bigger than Hawkeye, and her wings sprouted from her back. "Howzat?" she asked, still dozing.

"Perfect, Honey," Hank said. "Get some good sleep."

Jan smiled and nodded. She had never awakened.

Hank dropped to about 12 feet tall and scooped Jan into his arms, being careful of her wings. He looked at Clint as he carried her toward the Quinjet. "She's a heavy sleeper," he said.

Clint was looking at the still-gigantic Wasp. "THIS is wasp-size?" he said.

"It is to her," Hank said. "Clint, can you pilot the Quinjet back? I'll need to make sure we don't hurt her wings until we can make the adjustments."

"Sure, I'll play sky pilot," Hawkeye said.

"And call ahead to make sure there's a Goliath bed set up in one of the guest rooms."

"Already done," Clint said. "Except I set it up in one of the bungalows instead - the one Jan used as hers in the West Coast Avengers days."

Giant-Man grinned. "Thanks, Clint," he said.

The first thing Jan realized was that she was in a bed. With sheets. Cotton sheets. Not as good as silk or satin, but it felt marvelous right now. And she was wearing one of her Greek-inspired Wasp outfits, which was easy to get in and out of and could double as comfy sleepwear.

She took a deep breath through her nose. The air smelled like California, like the old West Coast Avengers complex, not New York.

Jan opened her eyes. She quickly realized that things weren't adding up. She felt tiny - really tiny. The bed was big to her, but nowhere near big enough to fit how small she felt. And the room - it was her old room, but her things were mostly gone. She did see a few of her knickknacks on the dresser, looking like they'd been hastily arranged. And the room was not only not big, it looked small to her.

Jan looked around and saw Hank. He was sitting in an easy chair beside her bed - sound asleep. Happy tears welled up at the sight of him - but he, too, looked small.

Realizing she had no wings, Jan tried to shrink down to Hank's scale and found she couldn't. Well, Hank had said there might be issues with her size - but she was home.

She looked into Hank's face, and felt a touch of sadness as she realized that he looked older - at least five years older, she thought. Had she been gone that long?

Jan caressed Hank's cheek. "Hey, Handsome," she said.

Hank's eyes snapped open. "Jan," he said. "Welcome home."

Knowing the scale difference, Jan scooped Hank up and hugged him tightly. "Thanks, Lover," she said. She kissed his cheek.

The embrace lasted a while. Hank didn't object. "How are your legs?" he asked.

Jan exposed a four-foot-long gam, pointing her toes at Hank. "How do you think they are?"

Hank chuckled. This was his Jan, all right. "I mean, can you walk on them? It's been a while since they've borne any weight."

"Not to me," Jan said. "To me, the explosion - when I blew up - is like, yesterday." She put her feet under her and stood up. "They feel fine," she said. "Would you like to feel them yourself to double-check?"

Hank chuckled again. "Maybe later," he said. "Jan, you've been back on Earth for two days, and you haven't had anything to eat. We need to get you breakfast - a real breakfast - of food."

"Killjoy," Jan said. "Still, I am hungry."

"Let's head to the kitchen," Hank said. "I still remember how to make Eggs Florentine - one of your favorites, as I recall."

Jan had to think for a moment when she had to duck through the bedroom doorway. "Hank, how tall am I?" she asked as they walked.

"Eight feet tall," he said. "That's within a couple of millimeters."

Jan nodded as they made their way to the kitchen. "That would explain the Goliath bed," she said. Jan had designed the Goliath bed for Hank when he was trapped at 10 feet tall just after he first took the code name Goliath.

She had to duck through two more doorways to get the kitchen. Once there, Jan sat at the table while Hank started work on the meal.

"Let's see," he said. "At your present mass, I'm going to need six eggs and three English muffins."

"My present mass? How much do I weigh?" Jan asked.

Hank glanced over his shoulder, smiling at Jan. "A very lean, trim and fit 370 pounds," he said, "which is what 110 pounds scaled up to your current height works out to be."

Jan couldn't help but smile. The way Hank had answered had appealed to her vanity. He didn't need to; she was a qualified lab assistant and understood the physics of what had happened, but she still appreciated his thoughtfulness.

"So, I can't shrink, and I don't have wings. Am I just locked in at eight feet tall now?"

"No," said Hank. "How we got to this point is complicated, but this is your minimum height now. Your max is, um, 512 feet."

Jan did a double-take. "Say again?"

"Five-hundred-twelve feet," Hank said. "It's got to do with using the dimensional link we created to purge your body of all the Skrull particles and any nasty stuff Ultron tried to put in there, along with the Norse magic used both to send you from Earth and bring you back.

"Basically, the magic has made 512 feet your normal height, and the Pym particles you can use are the ones that predated the Skrull; that means you can shrink to 1/64th of your base height. Before, that was one inch; now it's eight feet."

Hank placed a cup of coffee in front of Jan. "Wow," she said.

"I'm sorry, Honey," Hank said. "I know what it's like to be trapped as a giant. Over time, with enough exposure to good, healthy Pym Particles, we should be able to shrink you down to normal, or even beyond, if you want." He started serving up Jan's meal onto a platter.

"No rush," said Jan. "I'm actually kind of OK with this."

Hank placed her plate in front of her, along with a fork. "Really?" he said.

Jan nodded. "Look, you know I've always liked being the center of attention," Jan said. "I'll be the tallest person in the room almost everywhere I go, and I'm really hot. Besides, I always wanted to be taller."

She started digging into her meal. She had devoured it in a matter of minutes. Once done, she leaned back in the chair. "So, no wings?" she said. "I guess they're not practical any more."

"You'd guess wrong," Hank said. "But I did have to modify them. They're cyborg wings now - retractable, and able to carry your weight up to 12 feet tall. At eight feet, you can carry two people while flying."

Jan stood up to make sure her back was clear of her chair. She gave the wings a thought and felt muscles in her back tighten momentarily. Suddenly, the wings were there.

Jan popped the wings back in, ducked under the doorways into the living room, and popped them back out in front of a large mirror there. It had been hers, and it was still there. The wings were iridescent, and they shimmered. "Oh, Hank, they're beautiful," she said.

"Thanks," he said, having followed her into the room.

Jan turned to him. "Can you fly?"

"Um, about that," Hank said. "I won't do Yellowjacket again. I only used the suit I used to rescue you because it was the only option. But I do have wings. I, um, … Well, when you died I became the new Wasp."

Jan shook her head, smiling. "What is it with you?" she said. "Your wife dies, you turn into a bug. Your first wife, Maria, dies and you become Ant-Man. I die, and you're the Wasp."

Hank shrugged, not sure what to say.

"You'll have to shrink to use those wings, right?" Jan said.

Hank nodded.

"Want a lift?" she said. "I bet I can give you a better ride than those wings of yours."

"OK, but there's a couple of things you should know before we go out," Hank said.

"All right," said Jan. "Lay them on me."

""Well, first, the world doesn't know you're back yet, so we may want to stay in the compound," Hank said. "and the other part is what we're doing with this place these days."

"What's that?" said Jan. Then she heard the noise of young people at play outside the bungalow. "Hey, what IS that?" she said.

Hank opened the door. "Jan, welcome to Avengers Academy."

Jan popped the wings in and out to get out the door. There she saw dozens of teens, some engaged in horseplay, some training exercises, and all of them super-powered.

"Hank, this is incredible!" Jan said.

Suddenly Reptil swooped down at Hank and Jan. "Hey, look! The headmaster's got a really big lady friend!"

"OMG!" shouted White Tiger. "That's the Wasp! He did it! Giant-Man got her back!"

"I told you!" yelled Hazmat. "I win the bet!"

As the students gathered around them Jan turned to Hank. "Headmaster?"

Hank shrugged. "Someone had to do it," he said. "The first students were at-risk kids - at-risk super kids."

Jan beamed. "You always were a professor at heart."

Then the sea of students surrounded them - greeting Jan, congratulating Hank and asking questions of them both. Most of the attention centered on Hank.

After a couple of minutes, Hank said, "All right, all right, folks. Jan and I would like to have a private flight together - just us. We've had almost no time together, and we could use it. So, if you'll excuse us - Jan, would you do the honors?"

Jan smiled. Surrounding Hank with her right arm, she lifted easily into the air, swiftly climbing and zipping away toward the academy's beach.

They landed gently. "Well, how do they work? " Hank asked.

"They work fine," Jan said. "But I'm so big I just can't get up to the flying speed I used to."

"Sorry, Hon," Hank said. "Best I could do."

Jan smiled, although Hank caught a hint of sadness in it. "They're fine," she said. "You've got nothing to apologize for, Hank."

Hank gestured to Jan's hands. "Stingers still work," he said.

"That's cool," Jan said. "Let's walk and talk."

They started a slow stroll along the sand. After a minute, Jan said, "So, how long have I been … gone?"

"Months," Hank said. "We had a memorial service. I'm afraid I made a mess of it. I accused Tony of wrecking the world and getting you and Cap killed."

"How did you get back?'

"Actually, Tony found the prison ship we were all held on," Hank said. "There were dozens of us - Bobbi, Spider-Woman, Sue Richards -"

"Jessica? And Sue?" Jan said.

"Actually, Jessica was never an Avenger - at least, while you were … alive before," Hank said. "That was always the Skrull impostor. And, yes, they had Sue, too. Actually, she and Bobbi are here at the academy. They figured you might need someone to talk to who's been through their own trauma from the Skrulls - and with a little more estrogen than most of the adults here."

"That sounds good," Jan said. "Um, Hank, you look like you've had a rough time if it's only been months since I … died. What happened."

Hank stopped walking and looked up at his ex-wife. "I missed you by minutes, jan," he said. "We got back just after you died. I couldn't believe it. And then, after I saw the video … my grief was pretty deep."

Hank's voice choked before he continued. "But I knew you wouldn't want me to lapse out of my mind again," Hank said. "I held onto it for you. Jocasta helped. I tried to use her as a substitute for you for a little while. She had your voice, and could project a hologram to make her look like you. But she wasn't you, and those efforts died off.

"Had? Could?" Jan said.

"'Casta was murdered," Hank said. "Recently. It may have been Ultron's doing, part of his plan to revive you, or he may have just killed her avatar he had with him in Underspace, where we left him.

"Underspace?" Jan said.

"It was a dimension I found looking for you," Hank said. "I thought I'd found you there, but it was Carina Walters, and she revived Korvac. It was a disaster.

"It was after that when I realized the search for you was too big. I was afraid of living without you, but I didn't have a choice, and I couldn't be afraid any more. I kept looking, but did what I needed to do to go on living."

Jan kicked the sand. "So, … is there someone new in your life - a lady?"

Hank sighed. "No," he said.

"Hank, are you OK?" Jan asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Can we go back now?"

Jan nodded. She was taken aback by how much Hank had shared - and how little she had. But she also knew her man well enough to know that now was not the time to push herself forward.

Jan didn't see much of Hank the rest of that day. Early in the afternoon, Bobbi and Sue stopped by. The three of them shared what started out as getting reacquainted - both the shorter women marveling at Jan's new height - and girl talk, but soon turned serious.

Bobbi sat next to Jan on the divan, which seemed so short to the Wasp. "Jan, how are you … really?"

Jan shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "I haven't seen much of Hank, and most of what he talked about with me was technical. I think I kind of pushed him into talking a little about himself, but something was clearly wrong."

"Forget about Hank for a minute," said Bobbi. "Let's talk about you."

Jan looked puzzled.

"Jan, you're going to need to rebuild your life," Sue said. "You've been dead for a while. A lot of your fortune was distributed out in your will, and Hank spent some of it on trying to get you back and on the academy. There's still a lot left, but it's technically Hank's money for the moment."

"I don't care," Jan said.

"You need to care," said Bobbi. "You'll need to live on something."

"I'll find a way," she said.

"Actually, I was in touch with Jen Walters. Hank called her while you were in your 36-hour sleep, after they got you back to Earth. He wants to transfer what's left of the money back to you."

"'Kay," Jan said, looking at the floor.

"The real question here isn't money," said Bobbi. "It's what do you want to do? You've got a new life, a new start. Because of how long you've been gone and your physical condition, there'll have to be at least some changes. You need to think about goals."

"When I was floating in that other dimension, I had nothing I could do but think," Jan said. "I know my goals. I just don't know what Hank will think of them."

"Forget Hank for a few minutes," Bobbi said. "What are your goals without him?"

Jan smiled at Bobbi. "They almost all involve him in some way."

"What's one that doesn't?" Sue asked.

Jan sat up straighter on the divan. "I want to do more with my fashion career," Jan said. "That's a relatively easy thing to pick back up, and my added height will help me on either side of the runway."

"Either side?" said Sue.

Jan lowered her hands in front of and her body in a "look at this" gesture. "With this height and this body, I could definitely do the modeling as well as the design," Jan said. "It just depends what opens up first. Either way, I'll love it."

Bobbi patted Jan's knee. "Good," she said. "What's another one?"

Jan shrugged. "All the others involve Hank," she said.

Sue sighed.

Bobbi glanced at Sue before turning back to Jan. "OK. What's the goal you have now that's furthest from your old self?"

Jan's expression went grim. "Revenge," she said.

"They defeated the Skrulls," Sue said.

"Not on all the Skrulls," Jan said. "With this kind of plot, there's always a mastermind - someone behind it who put it together. That wasn't the queen, and it wasn't that damned fake Hank or anyone else on the ground - at least I'm pretty sure it wasn't. That kind stays behind the scenes, to plot and attack another day if things go the way they did on Earth."

"Jan, even if he or she exists, and even if we could find him or her, the Skrulls would come after Earth if we took him out," Sue said.

Jan looked at Sue with an intensity that sent a chill down the back of the Invisible Woman. "Not with the plan I've put together," the Wasp said. "No one will know what - or who - hit him, except him."

Sue looked over at Mockingbird. Bobbi's eyes were darting back and forth, like she was trying to process new information.

"Bobbi?" Sue said. "You OK?"

"I've got an idea," Mockingbird said. "Let me call Ms. Marvel about it." She turned to Jan. "Then, once I get done with that, would you like to talk about your goals involving Hank?"

Jan nodded. "That would be great," she said. "But, before I do, there's another goal I have that's far from my old self - and this one, I think, will surprise you. It kind of does me."

Jan didn't see Hank the rest of that day, or all of the next. She didn't know a lot of places to look for him. The compound was so different from in the West Coast Avengers days. She looked in those places she knew later on her second day of consciousness, but had no success.

The next morning, after a breakfast of a half-dozen scrambled eggs, Jan decided she would wait for Hank awhile. Besides, she figured she could cause a stir amongst some of the male academy students if she lounged outside in a bikini. Maybe that was a way to get Hank's attention.

Jan's first problem was that the lounge chairs were too short at a little over seven feet long. She resolved it by grabbing an ottoman from inside the bungalow and using it at the end of the lounge for her feet. Then she stretched out, wearing only a teeny yellow bikini and some shades.

The boys definitely gave Jan a lot of lingering looks, even outright leers, but kept a distance. When Reptil started toward her, looking like he might make a pass, Lyra stopped him. "That's Giant-Man's woman," she said.

Jan sighed. I wish I knew if I still am Giant-man's woman, she thought.

"Um, excuse me, ma'am," said a feminine, filtered, young voice. "Are you really the Wasp? The founding Avenger Wasp?

Jan pulled down her sunglasses as she stood up. Standing in front of her was a teen girl in a yellow and black containment suit.

Jan smiled. "Yep, that's me," she said.

"Oh, wow," the girl said. "I'm just … I'm so glad you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here too ," Jan said. This was the first student who'd come to talk to her since that first day, and most of them had been more interested in Hank, or just gawked. "What's your name?"

"Hazmat," the girl said.

Jan sat up slightly. "No, I mean your name, not your code name. Your identity's not secret, is it?"

Hazmat giggled. "No," she said. "My name's Jennifer Takeda."

"What do they call you? Jennifer? Jenny? Jen?"

"Jenny," Hazmat said.

Jan stood up and shook Hazmat's gloved hand. "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Jenny," she said.

"For me, too," Jenny said. Abruptly, she hugged Jan around the waist, then turned and ran off. "Thanks!" she said.

"Thank you," said Jan.

She turned to find Tigra occupying the lounge chair. "You're a typical cat, you know that?" Jan said.

Tigra looked up, grinning, her fangs showing. "What can I say? I like to lounge in the sun, too."

Jan leaned by the doorframe, her head and shoulders above it. "What brings you here, Greer? Just a social visit?"

"Actually, I was just checking on the kids, and had been watching Hazmat," Greer said.

"You mean Jenny," Jan said.

"You have no idea how good it is for her to have you here, Jan," Tigra said.

"She's always in that suit," Jan said. "It looks like a containment suit."

"Jenny's powers are always on, and she emits every type of toxin imaginable - radiation, posions, pollution, carcinogens, germs, viruses," Greer said. "She's potentially toxic to anyone she so much as stands near without that suit."

"Oh, that poor kid," Jan said. Then what Greer said hit her. "Wait. I was toxic the same way when the Skrull bomb went off in me, and right after Ultron revived me."

"You were a human weapon of mass destruction," Greer said. "That's how Hazmat describes herself."

Greer stood up. "And now, you're better, something Jenny had despaired of ever being," she said. "You have given her hope, simply by being here."

Jan started to duck in the bungalow door. "Well, I'm glad I'm doing someone some good," she said.

It was late afternoon when Hank finally came to the bungalow. He was wearing his Giant-Man uniform, but standing only his normal, human height.

"About time you came by," Jan said. "Just how busy is this school keeping you, anyway?"

"I thought we should talk," Hank said.

"Finally!" Jan said. "Where do we start?"

"Well, we can't keep your return a secret much longer," Hank said. "I think we ought to schedule a press conference."

Jan leaned forward in disbelief. "Press conference?" she said. "Press conference? Hank, we're a couple, or at least I thought we were. You've been avoiding me for more than two days. We've been apart for years - literally years - and are finally getting the chance to reconnect, and you avoid me, then, when we finally are together, you want to talk about a press conference? Hank, we need to talk about us!"

Hank turned his back to Jan. "Jan, I ... don't know if there is an us any more," he said.

"What?" Jan said in a voice surprisingly small for one so big.

"I had to close my heart to you - to my love of you - to keep on living," Hank said, his back still to Jan. "As to reopening it - " he shook his head.

Hank clenched a fist, not looking to see the absolute shock on Jan's face. "I should go," he said and left, without saying another word or looking back.

Jan sat frozen for a moment, then let out a wail. She thought she'd been prepared for anything, but this hadn't even occurred to her.

Jan ran out of the bungalow, hitting her head on the door in the process. Hank was nowhere to be seen, but she knew where Sue's guest house was. She half-ran, half-stumbled there.

Jan knocked on the door. She knew Reed had gone back to New York, but Sue had stayed for a few more days. "Who is it?" Sue asked from inside.

"It's Jan!" the giantess shouted, sobbing.

The door flew open. "Jan, what's wrong?" Sue said.

Jan looked down at Sue, her mouth twitching while she tried to find the words. Finally she shouted, in obvious agony, "He dumped me!"

"What?"

"Hank -" Jan gasped "- dumped me! He just dumped me!"

"Come in here," Sue said. "Watch your head."

After helping Jan to the love seat , Sue grabbed a cell phone. She hit speed-dial. "Hello, Bobbi? Oh, hi, Clint. Is Bobbi there? It's an emergency. No, not an Avengers emergency, a Jan emergency."

Jan was staring at the floor in disbelief, heaving heavy sobs, her face awash with tears.

Sue covered the phone's mouthpiece. "Jan, are you sure you understood Hank right? I just can't believe -" Sue shifted back to the phone. "Bobbi, I need you to do an intervention with Hank. I've got Jan in my living room, and she says Hank dumped her."

"WHAT!" Jan could hear Mockingbird's shout from halfway across the room.

"I'm not sure what really happened," Sue said. "But she's in tears. I've never seen her like this. She's just totally falling apart."

"I'll get the bastard," Mockingbird said.

"Bobbi, talk to him, don't kill him," Sue said, but Bobbi had hung up her phone.

Sue shook her head. She turned back to Jan. "OK, just what did Hank say?"

Jan sniffled, then sobbed, momentarily unable to form words. "Why am I like this?" she said. "I never fall apart like this."

Sue put an arm around Jan's shoulder as best she could. "Jan, you've been through a lot of trauma in what, for you, has been just a few days," Sue said. "Your emotions are like soda pop, and someone heated the can, shook it up - and then Hank added Mentos. They couldn't help but bubble over."

Jan looked into Sue's eyes. She was still breathing hard from all the sobbing. "Um, to answer your question, he said he'd had to close his heart to me to survive, and as to reopening it, and then he clammed up, shook his head and just left." She broke down again. "He just dumped me!"

Sue held her friend for a few minutes, trying to comfort Jan while processing the situation. Then she got down on the floor in front of Jan. She placed a hand on each of Jan's shoulders. "Jan, look at me," Sue said.

Jan did, her eyes and cheeks reddened.

"I'm pretty sure I know what Hank was trying to say, and I don't think he was trying to dump you," Sue said. "He and Reed are a lot alike, and Reed, who can get out 17-syllable scientific words, trips all over himself trying to express feeling."

"But he said -"

Sue put a finger to Jan's lips. "But to explain why I think that, I'm going to need to tell you something, something I promised myself I wouldn't tell you - and you have to promise to keep my secret. Bobbi's the only other one who knows."

"Not even Reed?" Jan said.

"Especially not Reed," Sue said. "Do you promise?"

Jan nodded, looking confused and worn.

"See, Jan, we were on that Skrull ship for a long time - a very long time - and we were allowed to have some interaction. At first, I thought Reed or Johnny or the Avengers or someone would come save us, but when no one did, and we still couldn't find a way out, I gave in to despair.

"I thought I'd never see any of my family or friends again," Sue said. "I thought I'd never see Reed again. And Hank … Hank was so much like my Reed, and Hank was right there, and -"

"Oh, my god!" Jan said. "Did you -"

"If you're asking what I think you're asking, no," Sue said. "But I fell in love with him - really in love with him, Jan."

Now Sue's jaw quivered. "I practically threw myself at him, Jan, and he never noticed. I flirted as hard as I could, but I guess I wasn't as good at it as you are. He missed all the signals I sent him."

"He's been known to do that with me, too," Jan said, "But I can usually get through the haze."

Sue chuckled, but her eyes were brimming with tears. "See, Jan, the thing was, it wasn't just that Hank was thick about women. All he talked about was what he would do when he got back to you. He never doubted for a minute that he would get back to you and be able to make up for all that he'd lost with you.

"And part of me hated that, because I wanted him to want me. But part of me was so glad, because he inspired me. He gave me hope that I could get back to Earth and to Reed and the rest of my family. And he did the same for Bobbi, who realized just how much she really missed and needed Clint. And in the midst of it all, Hank himself became mentally stronger, better able to cope with whatever was thrown at him."

Sue took a deep breath as the tears started to flow. "And then, when we got back, Bobbi's in Clint's arms, and I'm in Reed's - and they're telling Hank that you had died. That you had just died. That he had missed you, and that there wasn't even a body for him to tell you goodbye.

"I wanted to run to him, to hold him, to tell him I loved him and try to ease his loss - but I couldn't. I had my Reed back, and he was the one with whom I belonged - and belong."

Sue started to recompose herself. "Over the next few months, Hank had his highs and lows. You'd have probably been embarrassed by your memorial service, although all of us from the ship thought he was probably right.

"But, once he realized there was a chance of getting you back, however slim, he went to work with that same tunnel vision Reed gets. He was going to make sure he got you back if he could.

"Eventually, he had to start living without you," Sue said. "But I don't think he wanted to, really. And he never stopped looking for you. I don't think he could if he wanted to. I know Hank was married before, Jan, but you're the one great love of his life. He just - he's not good at expressing his feelings, and he's dealing with all these layers of trauma, too. But I don't think he intended to dump you. The Hank Pym I fell in love with couldn't do anything else but love you."

Sue looked up at Jan. "Do you hate me?"

Jan shook her head, then enfolded Sue in an enormous embrace. The two women both began to sob. That lasted for a few minutes, then they each began to wipe away tears.

Jan looked down at Sue. "You really think he didn't mean to dump me?"

Sue nodded. "Don't you think that, too?"

Jan's voice sounded tiny as she said, "I want to."

Bobbi had stormed into Hank's rooms. "PYM!" she shouted.

"Bobbi? What -"

Before Hank could get out another word, Mockingbird socked him in the jaw, slamming him to the ground with a single punch.

"What the hell was THAT about?" Hank asked, rubbing his jaw.

"How could you do this to Jan?" Bobbi shouted, her face contorted in rage.

"What are you talking about?" Hank said.

"What you did to Jan, you jerk!" Bobbi shouted. "That poor woman's been through hell, and she wants and needs you, and you dump her!"

"Dump her? What are you talking about?"

"You dumped her, you son of a -"

"Bobbi!" said Hank, standing up, "I didn't dump Jan."

"Well, she sure as hell thinks you did," Bobbi said. "She's at Sue's rooms now, bawling her eyes out because she thinks the great love of her life has just dumped her right when she needs him most!'

"She's what?"

"She thinks you dumped her, you big ninny," Bobbi said. "What did you say to her?"

"I said -" Then it hit Hank. "Oh, God," he said. "I was handling things so badly, and I made them even worse for her. I'm so thick."

"No argument there," Bobbi said. "Hank, she told me you talked about you, and I know you talked about mechanics. Have you actually really talked to Jan - you know, about what she wants? About her?"

"No," Hank said quietly.

"Don't you think MAYBE you ought to talk about more than just you?"

Hank nodded. "I'm on my way, You said she's at Sue's?"

"Yes," said Bobbi. As Giant-Man turned to leave, she added, "And, Hank?"

Hank turned back, expecting an apology for the punch. "Yes?"

"I am still an Avenger," she said. "Consider that time you hit Jan avenged."

Hank nodded. "Got it," he said as he pivoted to exit.

Hank was embarrassed to realize he didn't know which guest house was Sue's. He soon pieced it together by the lights and the open door.

Hank came up to find two superheroines who were red-faced and had tears streaming down their cheeks. "Um, can I come in?" he asked.

Sue looked panic-stricken. "How long have you been there?" she said.

"I just got here," Hank said. "Um, Jan, I think we need to talk - alone."

"Right," said Sue, standing up. "I'll leave,"

"Stay," said Hank. "This is your home away from home." He turned to Jan. "Honey, I've screwed up again. I'm sorry. I'd like to walk and talk with you, if you'll still let me."

Jan stood up. "Let's walk."

As she got ready to duck out the door, Jan turned to Sue. "Thanks, Sue - for everything."

Sue reached up and hugged Jan. "Not a word," she whispered.

"About what?" Jan whispered back, smiling. With her back to Hank, she winked at Sue.

Once Sue had closed the door behind them, she called Mockingbird. "Bobbi, I could use you over here. I told Jan."

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Jan said to Hank.

"Well, not a press conference," he said. "You want to walk to my quarters? I don't think you've seen them since you got back."

"Going over to your place, huh?" Jan said.

Hank nodded. "Jan, Bobbi told me you thought I'd dumped you."

"I did. I don't now. Sue helped me figure that much out."

"She's always been a good friend," Hank said. "Even on the Skrull ship, she kind of hovered over me, making sure I was OK. She's like a mother hen, you know?"

You have no idea, Jan thought.

"Jan, I want to let you talk, but I need to explain about earlier."

"Yes, you do," Jan said.

Hank stopped. "See, on the Skrull ship, I had lived to get back to you - and then I'd just missed you when I got back. And I thought I'd found you and tried to revive you, only it wasn't you, it was Carina Walters. I realized I was afraid of living without you, and I had to face the fact that I might have to do that for the rest of my life. I couldn't live with that fear any longer, so I had to close that part of my heart..

"Here's the thing: My searching slowed, but never stopped. I thought I'd closed my heart so I could go on living, but I never had. I'd just put it in a box. The problem is, there's a tangled mass of baggage now, and - well, you know I'm not the most emotionally open person to start with."

"Hank, you don't need to be afraid of living without me now," Jan said. "I'm back."

"But I am afraid, Jan," Hank said. "I'm afraid of losing you again. I'm afraid of screwing up again and costing you your life. If I did that again, I couldn't bear it."

"What are you talking about?" Jan said. "You didn't ger me killed. I got me killed."

Hank looked at Jan, his face contorted. "I got myself captured!" Hank said. "I'm a superhero, for God's sake, and I got myself captured and couldn't figure or find a way out."

"Hank, it wasn't just you," Jan said. "They got a bunch of our best and brightest - You, Sue, Bobbi, Spider-Woman."

"But I'm supposed to be a genius," Hank said. "And I couldn't find a way out. And because I couldn't find a way out, that Skrull impostor turned you into a weapon of mass destruction, and you died."

"Stop it, Hank," Jan said. "You always do that. You always take all the blame for everything. And I've always let you, and that was wrong of me. It needs to stop now."

Jan's lower lip quivered. "Hank, I know you made mistakes in our relationship, and I was right to leave you when you hit me. But I botched things up, to, and I made you the fall guy."

"How so?" Hank said.

"Well, there was that time I slept with Clint," Jan said. "And, when you had your bouts with insanity, including the time you hit me, I never tried to get you the help you needed. Even when I left you, if I loved you, I should have tried to get you help.

"Even the way our marriage started," Jan said. Do you remember, Hank? You were delusional, thought you were a new guy named Yellowjacket who had killed Hank Pym. You were so convincing, none of the other Avengers knew you. I did."

"Yeah, by kissing me," said Hank. "I'd just as soon not have kissed Cap, Clint or T'Challa."

"When you wanted to marry me as the Yellowjacket personality, I let you do it," Jan said. "When you came to yourself again, I held you to the marriage."

"But I wanted to stay married," Hank said.

"Hank, that was no way to start a marriage - playing on your problems to my advantage," Jan said. "That was wrong of me.

"But the worst - the very worst - was the Skrull," Jan said. "Hank, that thing lived with me for months, maybe years. I shared my life with it. I shared my dreams with it. I shared my bed with it!" As she said the last sentence, her face took on an expression like she had just stepped in dog droppings.

Jan sagged to her knees. "Hank, I kissed that thing I don't know how many times, and I never knew it wasn't you. How could I not have known? I knew you by a single kiss once. How could I have missed all those signs? As I was dying, I saw all the little things that should have tipped me off - the moment it gave me the toxic serum as an anniversary present for an anniversary we didn't have, that it didn't hit its toothbrush on the edge of the sink four times every night like you did.

"And I saw you in that first Yellowjacket uniform, kissing me. God, I wanted to at least know you were alive. I wanted to at least see your face, say I love you one more time. But all I could do was try to take out a few Skrulls as I died."

Jan looked to Hank. He had fallen to his knees in front of her, and he was sobbing. "I've watched the news video of your death hundreds of times," Hank said. "I kept wishing I could step through it into that time, to let you see I was alive, so you could at least have that much peace - and so I could find a way to say I love you as you… As you…"

Jan wiped Hank's tears. "Don't you understand?" she said. "Hank, I used to know you by a kiss - one kiss. How could that thing have fooled me all those times? I should have known when it never wanted to play any of our games - you know, 'Hank the Explorer,' 'Hank the Spelunker,' 'Hank the Mountain Climber,' 'The Giant and the Fairy Princess.'"

"I remember vividly," Hank said, chuckling through his tears.

"And I missed all those signs," Jan said. "The person who knew you best in the whole world missed all those signs and let herself get turned into a human WMD. Hank, I let the Earth down. I let New York down. I let the Avengers down. I let myself down. I let you down, and I let us down. That's the biggest failure of them all. How can I live that down? How can I forgive myself for that? How can anyone forgive me for that?"

As his beloved dissolved in front of him, Hank composed himself a bit. "I let all those people down, too - including you, me and us - by getting caught. And I didn't think anyone could forgive me either."

Jan lifted her head to look at Hank. "I forgive you," she said.

Hank caressed Jan's face with both hands. "And I forgive you," he said. "Now we each just have to forgive ourselves."

Jan wiped tears from both their faces. "Well, it's easier for me to forgive myself with you forgiving me."

"It works that way for me, too," Hank said.

"Um, so, can I still see your quarters?" Jan said.

Hank stood up and took her hand. "Come with me," he said.

As they walked, Hank said, "So, I'm supposed to talk to you about your plans and wishes - and I want to hear them."

"And I want to share them with you," Jan said. "But it's been a rough night, and those things will keep for a day or so. Actually, what I'd like to do tonight is just … to have you hold me for a while."

"Do you want me bigger for that?" Hank asked.

"Yes, please," Jan said. "Like, early Goliath size."

Hank instantly shot up to 10 feet tall. He casually slipped his arm around Jan's waist. They walked toward Hank's quarters with their steps in the kind of easy, automatic synchronization that only longtime couples have.

"Just hold you?" Hank said.

Jan smiled coyly. "Well, at least for now," She said. "Later tonight … Let's just play it by ear, OK?"

"OK," Hank said. "By the way, Jan, since I don't think I've just come out and said this tonight: I love you."

With the emotions of the last hour starting to wash away, Jan smiled a blissful smile. "Oh, I love you, too," she said.

The next morning, Clint knocked on the door of Hank's quarters. "Hey, High-Pockets!" Clint said. "You in there? You up?''

Clint heard some abrupt rustling from inside the room, and the unmistakable sound of Jan giggling.

"Janny? That you? They're looking for you, too," Clint said.

From inside the room Clint heard Jan saying, "Hank, we've got to clean up these clothes. He'll know what's been going on."

'This is Clint. He already knows," Hank said. "He's not stupid. I'll get the door."

"But, Hank you're covered in … spelunker stuff," Jan said, giggling again.

"Oh, right," Hank said. "OK, I'll go hose down, you answer the door."

"Lover," said Jan, "You were wonderful."

Hank chortled. "So were you," he said.

Clint hoped his mask would hide how badly he was blushing when Jan opened the door. She was wearing one of Hank's dress shirts, which had scaled up to cover her since it was treated with Pym particles. "Hi, cutie," Jan said, sticking her boobs - naturally at Clint's eye level - forward a bit.

"Wow, Janny, feeling your oats today, huh?" Hawkeye said.

Jan shrugged. "Hank brings out the best in me."

"Glad you two got whatever was going on last night worked out," Clint said. "Jan, Carol Danvers is here."

"Ms. Marvel?" Jan said. "What's up?"

"Um, apparently Bobbi contacted Carol about something you told her about and they want to have a briefing at your bungalow. She said it had to do with the goal you have that's most unlike yourself. She said you'd understand."

"Really? This soon?" Jan said. She yelled back into the rooms, "Hey, Hank, get a wiggle on. We've got a briefing at my bungalow on a project Bobbi's been working on for me, and Ms. Marvel is there."

"I'll be ready in a minute," Hank said.

"I'll let 'em know you're on you way," Clint said.

Hank and Jan arrived at rhe bungalow a few minutes later. Waiting there were Ms. Marvel, Mockingbird, Hawkeye and the Invisible Woman.

"Hi, guys," Jan said. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Looks like things got better last night," Bobbi said.

Jan grinned broadly. Hank smiled a sheepish smile, putting his arm behind his head.

"I told you he didn't dump you," Sue said.

"Yes, you did, O wise one," Jan said. Her eyes gleamed as she looked into Sue's.

"It's good to see you, Jan," said Ms. Marvel. "They didn't tell me how big you are until a couple of minutes ago."

"I'm starting to get used to it," Jan said. "Let's get this started. What's up?"

"Jan, when you brought up the idea of a Skrull terrorist mastermind, I remembered a name I heard a few times on the prison ship - J'Kyl. I knew Carol had interstellar contacts from the days when she had her Binary powers and was traveling in space with the Starjammers, so I asked her to do some checking."

"Turns out this J'Kyl is infamous out in the galaxy," Ms. Marvel said. "He's the Skrull equivalent of the Supreme Hydra - Out there plotting and planning behind the scenes from hiding vwhile letting others do the dirty work, even including the Skrull royal family."

"The upshot is, I've got some intelligence that places him living under an assumed name and shape in Shi'ar space. It's confirmed through several sources I trust."

"Can a small strike team reach him on a black ops-type mission?" Jan said.

"I believe so," Carol said. "A frontal assualt wouldn't have a chance, but if we use enough stealth, it will work."

"That fits my idea for a plan perfectly," Jan said. "OK, folks, if you're willing, here's my idea."

After explaining the proposal, Jan asked, "So, who's in?"

Everyone in the room raised a hand.

"Sorry, Clint," Hank said. "The academy's already short-staffed, and I'm going on this mission. I'll need you here."

Clint looked at Bobbi.

"Strategically, we need a skilled combatant for emergencies since Sue and Hank could both be busy with their other duties, but smaller is better," Jan said. "Even after being dosed with super-soldier serum, Bobbi's a bit smaller than you, Clint."

"So, the go team is Sue, Bobbi and Hank," Jan said.

"You're not going?" said Bobbi.

"Smaller is better, remember?" Jan said. "Hank can shrink and grow, so he can provide what I can and more, and stay small enough to help the mission's chances - plus he has the technical know-how to troubleshoot if something goes wrong."

"But this is your mission," said Bobbi.

'And, as a strategist, I know its best chance of success are if I'm not on the go team,." Jan said. "But I'll be on the space-worthy Quinjet with Carol as the extraction team if things go worng."

Hank nodded. "I'll rig up a holographic comlink so you can let J'Kyl know what's going on," Hank said. "You should do that."

Jan nodded. "I'd like that," she said grimly. "Can you make the necessary stuff for the plan?"

Hank nodded again. "I already know how. It'll take very little time."

"We need to move fast," Carol said. "There's no telling if he might move to a new location. I brought a space-worthy Quinjet with me."

"And you're our best space pilot," Jan said. "Let's get ready, folks."

The mission was ready to launch within two hours. Jan wore a red-and-yellow Wasp outfit, one that had been one of Hank's favorites during their marriage, something neither he, Clint nor Sue missed noticing.

Clint and Bobbi kissed passionately as the team prepared to leave. Then Clint said, "You come back to me - and take that bastard out."

Bobbi smiled. "Will do," she said.

Carol guided the ship througb two wormholes on space routes to the planet where J'Kyl lived. She parked the ship in a low orbit, allowing Sue to use her powers to safely lower herself and Bobbi on a series of force-field steps. Hank flew down at bug size. Sue kept the three of them in an invisibility field the whole time.

The intel said J'Kyl had developed a taste for a Shi'ar drink roughly equivalent to coffee. He had begun to frequent the same "café" regularly. It was there that they found him. The devices Reed sent showed clearly that he was a Skrull.

While invisible, Bobbi slipped the concoction Hank had put together into J'Kyl's drink. He quickly finished his "coffee" and started off the raised platform where the shop was located.

As soon as he was at a point where he couldn't be seen, Sue surrounded him with a force field and an invisibility field.

Suddenly J'Kyl realized he had reverted to his normal form. On seeing his face, Bobbi said quietly, "ID confirmed and positive. Begin hologram."

J'Kyl could now see Bobbi, Sue and Hank, but no one else could. He also realized to his dismay that he was shrinking, and he wasn't willing it. And he realized he couldn't speak, couldn't utter a sound.

Jan's holographic image appeared. "Hello, J'Kyl," she said. "This message is being sent in a frequency Skrulls can hear, but Shi'ar can't - and, as you can tell, it's translated into Skrull.

"My name is Janet Van Dyne. Your plot for a secret invasion of the Earth led to my death - but I got better. The three people with you were all kidnap victims of that plot. And we've all been Avengers at one time or another - it's an Earth super-team.

"Your scientist who destroyed my life and replaced my husband planted a growth bomb in me to be a weapon of mass destruction. You've been free to plot and execute more interstellar terror since then. That ends today.

"You've been dosed with a shrinking serum. It paralyzed your vocal cords, and is starting to speed up now, I see. You're going to shrink faster and faster, until you start shrinking through dimensions. You'll get what you need to survive from the energy and mass your body shunts as you shrink. You can't stop it. As you arrive in a new dimension, your molecules will be so dispersed you won't be able to touch anything, and when you are solid you'll shrink so fast and be so small that you won't be able to hurt anyone - ever again.

"Looks like you're only finger-size now. In seconds you'll start falling through dimension after dimension, always smaller, always more and more insignificant, until you either die of old age or run out of dimensions to shrink through and dwindle to the nothingness you deserve.

"And remember this, you Skrull bastard: We are Avengers, and we are avenged!"

The message cut off as J'Kyl dwindled from sight. After a few more seconds, Hank, still bug-size, whispered, "He's gone. Mission accomplished. "Let's go home."

Using force field steps again, the go team was soon back in the Quinjet, which quietly slipped out on its trip home.

On the ship during the flight, things were quiet. Everyone seemd lost in their own thoughts.

Hank patted Jan's hand. "We did it," he said. "The galaxy is a safer place, and the bastard that hurt all of us is gone."

"Yeah, we did it," Jan said. "I'm glad he's gone and can't hurt anyone else, but part of me still feels … dirty."

Hank nodded. "Not really very heroic, was it? Necessary, and justice, but not heroic."

"What is any more?" Jan said, literally starting off into space.

Hank took Jan's hand. She smiled back at him, a worn and weary smile.

When they got home, it was late night. The team went to their separate quarters, except for Hank. He went with Jan to her bungalow. It had the Goliath bed, which was a better fit for her than the king-size bed in his quarters. This time they simply slept in each others' arms.

The next morning, Hank made Jan Eggs Benedict for breakfast. This time it was eight eggs and four English muffins - Jan hadn't eaten much the day before, and she had an appetite. He made two more eggs and another muffin for himself.

As Hank served up the meal, he asked, "So, are you ready to talk about your plans now?"

Jan smiled down at her beloved. "Seems as good a time as any," she said. "Let me wolf down my breakfast and have a little of this Earl Grey, and we can talk."

Hank took a sip of coffee. "Sounds good," he said.

After breakfast, Hank started to gather dishes. Jan lightly grabbed his arm. "Leave them," she said. "Let's talk."

Once Hank was resettled, he asked, "So, Bobbi tells me you have plans now. What can you tell me about them?"

Jan took a deep breath. "Well, for starters, I want to use this new height to my advantage," Jan said. "Being tall is a huge asset for a designer - and between my height, fitness and celebrity, I could almost certainly do really well as a model, now, too."

"Makes sense," said Hank. "You've always had a passion for that kind of thing."

Jan nodded. "And, speaking of passions … Hank, I don't want to keep being an Avenger. At least not full-time."

"Really?"

"Heroing has become less and less of a clear-cut heroes and villains thing and more and more of a morass. You weren't here for the superhero civil war, but we did things as the "good guys" that we used to fight against as villainy and evil. And look at what we just did. It was necessary to defeat an evil, but it wasn't heroic.

"Now, what you're doing here with the academy - this is heroic. It may never be recognized as that, but it is. You and the others are making a difference here for these kids. That's heroism. That I'd like to be a part of - and not as the Headmsitress' woman, as one of the kids called me the other day."

Hank smiled. "I think I could arrange that, if you're serious. I'm on very good terms with the headmaster."

Jan stopped smiling. "Then there's the other thing," Jan said. "Us."

Hank sipped his unfinished coffee. "That is kind of the elephant in the room." he said.

"If I understood what you were saying two nights ago right, you were so afraid of being hurt by losing me again that you were going to go ahead and lose me up front to make sure you weren't hurt. Is that right?"

Hank looked sheepish. "Well, yes, but when you put it that way, it sounds stupid."

Jan smiled. "That's because it is stupid, Lover. But it's also very human.

"Look, Hank, I can't promise you I won't die again tomorrow, or even today," Jan said. "That's just part of life. I could get hit by a bus, or choke to death on a sandwich, or die of some medical complication. And, for that matter, so could you. And, for whichever one of us is left, that's going to suck. It's going to hurt - a lot.

"But I figured out something while I was waiting to get back to Earth, something that had been staring me in the face for my whole adult life, but that I'd managed to look past."

Hank smiled a little. "And that is?"

Jan took both his hands in hers. "That my life is so much better with you in it, that I would rather have a short life with you in it every day, in as close a capacity as you can stand, than live 150 years without you."

"But, Jan, I hit you."

"When you were fighting mental illness," Jan said. "You're so much better now - I can see that. And, if the mental illness resurfaces, I'll get you whatever treatment we can - and I won't stop loving you.

"Besides," Jan said, standing up, "I'm bigger than you at rest, I can get bigger than you can get, and, thanks to the way my powers work and the Norse magic, I'm pretty sure I'm stronger than you when we're the same size. I don't think you could get away with doing too much to me."

"Point taken," said Hank.

"So, what do you think, Hank? I mean, I get the feeling from the way you've been feeling me that you want to be more than just friends. Am I right?" She bent down to him coyly.

Hank leaned back. "How did you put it? I want to spend every day I can with you in as close a capacity as possible. And," he added, "I want that to be with as much feeling" - he placed a hand on Jan's abdomen - "as possible."

"Why, Dr. Pym," Jan said in a mock Southern dialect, "I do believe we are on the same page."

They both knew that they were heading back to the bedroom, but not to sleep this time. "Before we head back," Hank said, "Was that everything we needed to talk about?"

Jan smiled. "No," she said, "but it's everything we can talk about now."

After some time together in bed, Jan made lunch. She had a truly huge salad; Hank, a ham and swiss on wheat toast.

After swallowing a bite of sandwich, Hank said, "You know, Jan, we are going to have to deal with some practical things, including - I hate to say this after the other night - a press conference."

"It's OK now, Hank," Jan said. "We worked through what we needed to work through for now. So, when do we want to do this?"

"You want to shoot for tomorrow afternoon?" Hank said. That'll give you time to prepare, and me to do headmaster business here and run an important errand."

"Sounds good. Can you set it up?"

"I think I'll have to, if we don't want to tip our hand that you're back," Hank said. "But there is something else. We really haven't tested exactly what the limits of your new powers are. We know your size-changing limits, but not anything about anything else going on with your condition. We need to get a feel for that. I need to know it, and I think you do, too."

"OK," said Jan. "How do we do that?"

Hank swallowed another bite of his lunch. "We have scanning equipment here because of all the super-kids' powers, some of which are unstable. We can scan your capabilities in a few minutes, and see just what you can do."

"Hank, what about the money? You know, my old money."

Hank paused, surprised Jan brought it up. "I was planning to give it back," Hank said. "I've been having Jen Walters draw up the papers."

"Don't rush it," said Jan. "I'm in no hurry to get it back."

"OK," said Hank. "Mind if I ask why?"

"A, you're doing a good job with handling it, and, B, I have my reasons, which will be clear soon enough."

Hank smiled. "Soon?"

Jan got the reference to her time waiting to get back to Earth. "Yes, Lover, "she said. "Soon."

Early that evening, after the academy day was done, Hank ran the scanner on Jan. In a few minutes, he had the data. Looking at it, he whistled.

Jan struck a flirty pose. "For me, Lover?"

Hank smiled up at her. "Well, for that, too, but it was specifically over these readings. There are a couple of surprises here. One I should have seen coming."

Jan saw Hank was smiling, so she figured the news was good. "Yeah? So? Spill!" she said.

He raised an eyebrow. "You might want to think about focusing on aerobic exercise," Hank said. "You're going to find strength training … challenging. Actually, because you'll be challenged to find anything heavy enough to be a lifting challenge."

"What?" said Jan. "How strong am I?"

"Well, remember how you had full-size strength when you were wasp-sized before?" Hank said. "Now, your full-size is 512 feet tall, so -"

Jan gasped.

"You're basically in a strength class with Thor and the Hulk," Hank said.

"But - but then why haven't I crushed you to death when we made love?" Jan asked.

"You usually only used wasp-strength before unless you needed more when you were wasp-sized," Hank said. "I'm guessing you're still doing that."

"I'm one of the strongest Avengers?" Jan said.

Hank nodded. "Great time to semi-retire, huh?"

"It doesn't change my mind, Hank," Jan said, "but it is good to know. You said there were a couple of surprises?"

"Yeah," Hank said. "You've kind of taken an interest in Hazmat, right?"

"Jenny Takeda, right," Jan said. "I feel for her, being trapped like that. We've both been there, and I guess I give her hope."

"Then you'll really want to know this," Hank said.

Jenny was starting to try to settle in for the night. Then she heard the last thing she expected to hear: a knock on her door.

Jenny walked over to the intercom. "Who's there?" she said.

"Jan. Can I come in?"

Jenny sighed. "Jan, I'm toxic. I'll kill you if you come in."

"No, you won't," Jan said. "Turns out the cure I got gave me immunity to every toxin - biological, chemical and radiation - that you emit."

"What?" Jenny said quietly, not believing what she heard.

"Hank - Giant-Man double-checked the results before I came," Jan said. "And, um, I just thought that you might like the chance for a little girl talk - and maybe a hug from a friend?"

"Come in!" said Jenny. "There's a clean room you can leave your clothes in."

"I brought two sets," Jan said. "I'll leave one here for when I visit, if that's OK."

In under a minute, Jan was ducking in the door of Jenny's room.

"Hi," Jenny said in a small voice.

"Hi," Jan said. "Oh, we've gotta find a way to get you out of that suit safely, girl. You'll make the boys crazy, and I can help."

Suddenly Jenny slammed into Jan, hugging her. Jan patted the teen's head. "So, if you've been feeling like I've felt when my powers or condition trapped me, I'm guessing you've been pretty lonely."

Jenny nodded.

"Well, if you want, I can take some time in here with you sometimes - maybe even regularly," Jan said. "But only if you want it."

Jenny nodded again.

"I hear you're a runner," Jan said.

"Yeah," said Jenny.

"Think we could get a couple of treadmills set up in here so we could do some jogging?" Jan said. "I need to do something aerobic, and Hank - Giant-Man isn't much on running and such. Mind you, I'd need a big treadmill."

"I'd love it," Jenny said.

"OK," said Jan. "We'll sort out the details tomorrow."

Jan bent down to look Jenny in the eye. "And, whatever happens, Jenny, I want you to remember something. I don't know how or when it will happen or if it will be in the way you want or we hope for, but I know this much: Things will get better."

Jenny hugged her again. "They already are," she said.

The next few days were a whirlwind. Jan was reintroduced to the world. The media reaction had some of the usual screaming and idiocy, but was positive for the most part. Jan had lined up an agent before she went public, and had modeling gigs and TV interviews lined up almost immediately after the conference ended.

In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, fellow and former Avengers and other superheroes Jan knew started calling, welcoming her back. Jan loved the frenzy of contact and attention; she was in her element.

For Jan, the best contact of all was when Thor arrived, in person. He gazed up at his now-gigantic teammate. Tears welled from his eyes as he knelt before her. "Fair Janet, 'tis indeed thee," he said. Thou art alive - enlarged, but alive, and by far the fairest giantess I have ever seen."

"Get up, Thor," Jan said. "Oh, it's so good to see you!"

"And to see thee, as well," Thor said.

Jan hugged him, allowing her full strength to be applied. This surprised Thor, who said, "Thy strength is that of a Norse goddess!"

"In a sense, that's partly thanks to you," Jan said. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"When you dimensionally shunted me, it turned out to be the first step in saving my life," Jan said. "You avenged me on the Skrulls at the scene, and your actions helped save my life. Thank you."

"Thou honorest me," Thor said.

Jan caressed his cheek. "Wow, it's really weird being this much taller than you."

Thor chuckled. "Aye," he said. "It appeared to me that thou and Henry art together again."

Jan nodded.

"Then that is an even greater joy for me," Thor said.

"Hank told me what you did for him in the aftermath of the memorial service," Jan said. "Of all the founding Avengers, you've been our truest friend."

"Hast thou heard from Iron Man?"

Jan nodded. "He called. I don't think he's comfortable around Hank at this stage. While I'd love to see Tony, I'm not going to push it. That's a challenge for another day."

Thor hugged Jan full-strength. She squealed in delight at how it felt. Then they said there goodbyes.

During those days, Jan spent at least a few minutes in Jenny's room each day. Mostly they talked or jogged. Jenny started calling Jan "Big Sis," and Jenny became Jan's "Little Sis."

One day, Jenny asked Jan to brush the teen's hair. "OK," Jan said. "Mind if I ask why?"

"My mom used to do it, before I got toxic," Jenny said. "It's a comfort thing for me."

Jan took the brush. "Then I'm glad to do it, Little Sis."

Hank and Jan were spending a lot of time together, too. Jan was getting a feel for more of the Academy's kids, and was finding she loved the work. Some of the kids she found a challenge. Hank said they were the ones who were most like her, prompting Jan to stick out her tongue at him.

Sue had decided it was safe for her to go home to New York. It was on her last night at the academy that Hank asked Jan to meet him at the beach, at the spot she'd flown him to when she first woke up at her current minimum height.

Jan flew to the spot, wearing a little off-white dress - well, it looked little on her - with a low-cut back to allow for wing room. Being the beach, she had worn sandals.

She spotted Hank, wearing a white dress shirt and khaki slacks, sitting at a simple table covered with a tablecloth. Flowers were in a vase in the center, and candles were on either side. There were plates and a seafood dinner, waiting to be served.

"Welcome," said Hank. He hit an app button on the notepad computer he had with him, and it began to play some Rachmaninoff.

"I'm impressed," Jan said. "Hank, this is so romantic. I don't think you've ever done anything quite like this before."

"That's because I haven't," he said. He held Jan's chair. "Allow me, miss."

"Thank you, sir," Jan said.

They ate the meal. Hank allowed himself a single glass of white wine. Jan could have three, but passed. She still felt some guilt about what happened after her tipsy slip to Pietro's sister Wanda a few years ago. She sipped some of the bottled water Hank brought instead.

Dessert was a rich chocolate cake. Jan had the equivalent of three pieces, which would have been about one piece to her at her old height. "There are some advantages to being this big, and this is definitely one of them," she said before she savored another bite.

As Jan finished the cake, Hank reached across the table and took her hand. "Jan," he said. "I love you."

"I can tell," Jan said. "And I love you, too."

She stood up, and crossed around the table to Hank. "Actually, you've done such a good job it makes what I wanted to do tonight that much easier."

Hank stood up. Jan looked down in to his eyes, a situation she was finally starting to get used to.

"Hank," Jan said, "I know I'm not perfect, and I know you aren't either. I know that, in the past, you've danced at the edge of sanity and occasionally fallen off. And I promise to do everything in my power to keep you back from that edge and to catch you if you do go over. "

"Jan, I -" Hank said.

"Please, let me finish," Jan said. "I don't want to miss this chance. I know I'll probably mess things up sometime down the line, and I know you probably will, too. But even the bad days with you are better than the best days without you and I want to share the rest of my life with you."

Jan got down on one knee. "Henry Pym, will you marry me?"

After a second, Hank burst out laughing.

Jan looked appalled. "This isn't a joke," she said. "I'm pouring my heart out down here."

"I'm not laughing at you, Honey," Hank said. "I'm - Here, I'll just show you."

From his trouser pocket Hank pulled a jewelry case. He held it at Jan's eye level and opened it. In it was a beautiful white gold ring with a large diamond in an elegant setting.

Jan looked at the ring, then at Hank. "I was going to propose to you tonight," he said.

"Well, why didn't you stop me?" Jan said.

"I tried," said Hank. "You wouldn't let me. Besides, you said how I feel way better than I would have."

Jan grinned, her cheeks already wet with happy tears. "So, is that a yes?"

"That depends," Hank said. "Is the answer to my question a yes?

"What question?" Jan said. "You never asked it."

Hank got down on one knee himself. "Janet Van Dyne, will you marry me?"

"Absolutley, yes!" Jan said, picking Hank up in a huge hug..

"Then my answer is yes, too," Hank said.

"Well, I should hope so," Jan said.

After a few minutes of kissing, Hank got out the ring and slipped it on Jan's finger. "Hank, it's so lovely," Jan said. "It looks so much like …"

Jan's jaw dropped. "Hank, it looks just like my Mom's ring."

"I had it made based on a photo you had of her," Hank said. "But I had it done in white gold, instead of the yellow. I know you prefer white gold. It's treated with unstable molecules, so it'll change sizes with you."

Big as she was, Jan looked in the moonlight like the tiny young slip of a girl he had met while she was in college. "I know what your mom meant to you, and how much you miss her sometimes," Hank said. "This was a way to have her with us for the big day."

"This was your errand, wasn't it?" Jan asked.

Hank answered by touching his nose.

Jan took his hand. "Hank, I love you, but there is one other thing we need to talk about - the other thing I held off on the other day."

"OK," said Hank. "What is it?"

"Hank, I want to be a mom," Jan said. "I want to be a mommy, and I want you to be the daddy, to our own kid - or kids."

"But you didn't want to have kids before," Hank said.

"Until I was dying," Jan said. "Then I realized, too late, how much I really wanted them after all. Now I've got another chance and, if you want to, I want to take it."

Hank beamed. "You're gonna make a wonderful mom," he said. "But won't pregnancy interfere with your new modeling career?"

"Are you kidding?" Jan said. "Don't you know that baby bumps are the new black?"

They hugged again. Hank leaned back slightly. "This is why you wanted to have Jen Walters hold off on the money transfer. With getting married, it's just shared."

Jan nodded. "Besides, I meant what I said," she said. "You've done a good job with it, and it isn't what matters to me any more."

After another hug, Jan said, "Hank, Sue's leaving tonight and I want her in the wedding party. Can we get some folks together here about that?"

"Sure," said Hank. "I'll call some folks to the conference room - whoever we need. And I'll make a conference call, too. There are a couple of people I know I want in on this, too."

Jenny was surprised to see that everyone in the conference room when she arrived was an adult. There was Jan, who had called her here, and Giant-Man, Hawkeye, the Invisible Woman and Mockingbird. Jan was holding her right hand over her left.

"OK, we're all here," Jan said.

"Reed, are you there?" Hank asked.

"Right here, Hank," said Reed said through a speaker phone. "What's up?"

"I apologize for the late hour, with the time difference in New York, but this won't wait with Sue leaving in the morning," Jan said.

'That's all right. How are you, darling?"

"Fine, dear, but I know about as much about this as you do," Sue said.

Jan was bouncing now. "Oh, I can't wait any longer1" Jan said. She held up her left hand to show off the ring. "We're engaged!"

Cheers and congratulations went up around the room.

Once the furor died down, Jan went over to Susan. "Sue, I need someone who loves both Hank and me to be my matron of honor. I know - better maybe than anyone - that you love us both. I would be honored if you would be my matron of honor."

Sue grinned a goofy grin, nodding. "Gladly," she said.

"Reed," said Hank, "You're one of our oldest friends, and you were instrumental in saving Jan. Please be my best man."

"Proud to do it, Hank," Reed said.

"Clint, Bobbi, we want you in the wedding party, too," Jan said. "Will you be a groomsman and a bridesmaid for us?"

Bobbi turned to he love. "What do you say, sweetie? I can rock a pretty mean bridesmaid dress."

"Yeah?" said Clint. "Well, I put the "Oh!" in tuxedo."

Bobbi winced. "That's bad, but you'll look great," she said. Turning to Jan and Hank, she said, "We're in."

"I'm going to ask Stephen Strange to be my other groomsman, but I couldn't reach him tonight," Hank said.

Jan walked over to Jenny. "And that means I need another bridesmaid," Jan said. "What d'you say, Little Sis?"

"Me?" Jenny said.

Jan nodded.

"But I can't get out of the containment suit," Jenny said.

Jan shrugged. "So? A, I'm a fashion designer. Maybe I can make you a special suit for the occasion. B, if not, you'll just wear the suit."

Jan bent down to look Jenny in the face. "And C, I can't imagine this wedding without you in my party up front. You gave me hope, Little Sis."

"I gave YOU hope?"

Jan nodded. "That first time you hugged me, suit and all, came when I was at a really low point. Thinking about you - seeing what I did for you - let me know that, whatever else happened, I mattered to someone. And you helped me find something I can do to help people, .. And a new friend. So, what d'you say?"

"Sure, Big Sis," Jenny said, hugging Jan.

"Um, one question," said Reed. "We're all committing to this wedding, but when is it?"

"Hey, that's right," Clint said. "High-Pockets, Janny, when's this wedding gonna be?"

Jan and Hank smiled at each other, each thinking of the time in the void when Jan was first revived. In unison, they turned to their friends and said simultaneously, "Soon!"

THE END


End file.
